Unit 4.7: Fisheries Management

Unit 4.7: Fisheries Management

Section Outcomes

4.7.1 Examine impacts on a marine ecosystem. (a)

4.7.2 Examine trends in fish catches over an extended period. (a)

4.7.3 Develop an argument for the development of the aquaculture sector of the fishery. (i)

4.7.4 Identify major sources of ocean pollution. (k)

4.7.5 Examine the impact of new catch technology on the ocean environment. (a)

4.7.6 Develop strategies for a sustainable fishery. (i)

4.7.7 Predict possible effects of a declining fish resource on the livelihood of fishers. (i)

Part A: Major Fish Stocks

The 4 major fishing regions worldwide:

¥ North east Atlantic (England/Norway);

¥ North west Pacific (Japan);

¥ West central Pacific (China/Indonesia);

¥ South east Pacific (Western South America)

Part B: Continental Shelves

¥ Most fishing grounds are found on continental shelves

Two main reasons for this

¥ 1. Continental shelf contains shallow fishing banks that allow sunlight to penetrate to the bottom. This promotes plankton production which serve as the base of the marine food web including fish

¥ 2. The shallow waters of the self make harvesting more cost effective. The fish have to be landed on shore for human use so the regions closer to shore are fished most profitably.

Part C: Major Sources of Ocean Pollution

Here are the top 4 major sources of ocean pollution

¥ Oil: Disasters make headlines, but hundreds of millions of gallons of oil quietly end up in the seas every year, mostly from non-accidental sources

¥ Toxic Material: Industrial, agricultural, household cleaning, gardening, and automotive products regularly end up in water. About 65,000 chemicals are used commercially in the U.S. today, with about 1,000 new ones added each year. Only about 300 have been extensively tested for toxicity TBT, or tributyl tin, is added to boat paints to kill or repel barnacles and other nuisance organisms that foul ships' hulls

¥ Dangerous Debris: Our trash kills. When odds and ends of life on land-- particularly plastics--end up in the sea, they pose hazards to marine life. Animals drown or strangle from getting tangled in discarded or lost fishing gear, or suffer and even die from eating plastics and other garbage.

¥ Deposits & Withdrawls: For thousands of years humans have viewed oceans as vast dumps for domestic, municipal, and industrial garbage. The enormous deep-sea resources will undoubtedly attract more miners in the future, as easy-to-reach deposits on land are depleted.

Part D: New Catch Technology

In addition to the major pollutants, what impact does new catch technology have on our ocean environment? To answer this question we can look at the appearance of the factory freezer trawler which has likely had the most significant and negative impact on our ocean environment